EarthScape

Prime Minister’s speech on the UK’s drive for low-carbon energy has been given a lukewarm reception by campaign groups and industry leaders. Commenting on David Cameron’s address, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Andy Atkins said he was still waiting to see evidence of the Coalition being the greenest Government ever. He added: “This falls…

Concrete is considered fairly durable. The alkali–silica reaction (ASR) is a reaction which occurs over time in concrete between the highly alkaline cement paste and reactive non-crystalline (amorphous) silica, which is found in many common aggregates. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a report today about potentially serious concrete degradation possibly due to this…

Permafrost zones extend over 50% of Canada’s land area. Warming or thawing of permafrost due to climate change could significantly impact existing infrastructure and future development in Canada’s north. Researchers Jennifer Throop and Antoni Lewkowicz at the University of Ottawa, along with Sharon Smith with the Geological Survey of Canada, have published a new study,…

A fire-free farming method practiced by early inhabitants of the Amazonian savannahs could help inform efforts to conserve and rehabilitate these important ecosystems around the world, a study has found.

A new study analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests that the lake, known as Ontario Lacus, behaves most similarly to what we call a salt pan on Earth. A salt pan is formed where liquid pools were. A salt pan would be a lake or a pond if it were located in a climate…

Methane can be released to the atmosphere from a variety of natural and and made sources. The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. As Earth’s climate warms, the methane, frozen in reservoirs stored in Arctic tundra soils or marine sediments, is vulnerable to being…

Generating wind energy is more than twice as cheap as solar photovoltaic (PV) energy production, a study of alternative energy in six developing countries has found. The findings, published in Nature Climate Change last week (15 April), could help inform global debates on financing initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.

Can McDonald’s and “Best of Green” be in the same sentence? At first it sounds like the mockumentary sequel to Best in Show. After all, those big golden arches are not only easy to see from the road, they are still to critics a figurative symbol of a dubious food supply, sprawl and our disposable…

Some of the most heavily marketed drinks around the world are sodas, ranging from your average cola to flavored colas to fruity colas. Their sweet sugary taste is irresistible for some, adding to their addictive quality. Unfortunately, sodas are perhaps the most unhealthy drink, besides alcohol. With the rise of obesity and diabetes around the…

A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, including radio, computers, telephones, and many other devices. Such devices include transistors and digital and analog integrated circuits. Transition metal oxides also fill this category of materials. But…